Harlequins on the Cusp, Wasps on the Brink: Harlequins vs Wasps match report

Harlequins on the Cusp, Wasps on the Brink
http://www.v2journal.com/harlequins-vs-london-wasps.html

London Wasps are an embattled club both on and off the field this season. They travelled to the Stoop on a sunny but wind-chilled London day knowing a win would take them a long way towards avoiding relegation on-pitch at least. However, they encountered a Harlequins side in an uncharitable mood as the Quins booked themselves a guaranteed playoffs berth and all but guaranteed a home semi-final in a four-try display in front of a packed crowd.

Wasp’s latest troubles began before kick-off with fullback Richard Haughton injured in warm-ups, giving Jack Wallace a late promotion to starter and bringing Tom Prydie on to the bench. Wasps have seen dogged by injuries this season, including having five players forced into retirement.

The teams traded penalties in the opening 10 minutes before Wasps’ inside centre Ryan Davis was helped off with an ankle injury, a continuation of Wasp’s injury woes. By then Harlequins were clearly having the better of the forward exchanges, though this advantage did not tell until the 23rd minute when Ugo Monye went over in the corner off a pass from Mike Brown. This prompted a stirring rendition of “Happy Birthday to You” from the partisan crowd.

Five minutes later a prolonged Harlequins attack ended with George Robson picking up from a ruck and strolling over untouched in the corner to extend the lead to 16-3. By now news of Newcastle Falcons’ upset win at Gloucester had filtered through to the ground, meaning Wasps were only four points clear of the foot of the table. However, a rare Wasps attack 5 minutes before half-time gave Wasps a ruck 30 metres out from Harlequins’ line and Christian Wade raced through a gap to score under the posts to keep Wasps in touch on the scoreboard at the break.

Harlequins’ dominance continued in the second half. While Rory Clegg missed a penalty shot at goal early on it was not long before Chris Robshaw crashed over from a ruck to extend the lead to 13 points. Another clinical build up lead to Jordan Turner-Hall scoring in the corner in the 66th minute and the floodgates threatened to open, especially when replacement flanker Billy Vunipola was yellow-carded for infringing at the breakdown.

Even down to 14 men Wasps do have some sting courtesy of the pace of their backline, particularly lightening fast wingers Wade and Varndell. A Charlie Davies break lead to Ross Filipo scoring in the corner and a bonus point looked achievable, particularly as Quins eased off in the final stages with win and bonus points secure. Wasps threw everything into the effort, but breaks from Varndell, McIntyre and Vunipola failed to result in points.

After the match, Harlequins’ Director of Rugby Conor O’Shea was understandably pleased with the win that effectively leaves Quins needing one bonus point from the last two matches to secure a home semi-final. His only minor concern was that the team had “switched off” from time to time; but with no injuries suffered, and Nick Evans due back to play against Leicester Tigers next week O’Shea had good reasons for smiling.

Asked about Wasps’ woes O’Shea expressed sympathy for the club’s position, saying that London rugby needed Wasps in the Premiership and hoped that the “off-field stuff gets sorted”. He agreed that Quins’ ownership of its ground gives a massive amount of stability and made it much easier to return to the top flight when they were relegated in 2005.

Wasps’ Director of Rugby Dai Young acknowledged, "Administration is the blackest picture." He felt that the job of himself and his players was to avoid relegation and leave the finances to the Board. There is no doubt though that remaining in the Premiership makes the club more attractive to a buyer. Young felt confident that a sale would be, as there had been a lot of interest in taking over the club from Wycombe Wanderers owner Stave Hayes, who is currently on bail and under investigation for computer hacking. Wasps are away to out-of-form Bath next week before hosting Newcastle in a potential relegation decider on May 5th.

Harlequins’ winger Ugo Monye was relaxed after the match, happy with scoring on his birthday and observing that he had “never had 14,000 people sing him ‘Happy Birthday’ before.” He also hoped his opposition survived, saying, “I love playing Wasps”

Harlequins 33 (Monye, Robson, Robshaw, Turner-Hall tries, Clegg 3 penalties, 2 conversions) beat London Wasps 17 (Wade, Filipo tries, Robinson penalty, 2 conversions). Half-time 16-10.
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Ugo Monye (Chisolm 65mins), 13 George Lowe, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall (Urdapilleta 71mins), 11 Sam Smith, 10 Rory Clegg, 9 Danny Care (Dickson 61 mins), 1 Joe Marler, 2 Rob Buchanan, 3 James Johnston, 4 Olly Kohn, 5 George Robson, 6 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 7 Chris Robshaw (C), 8 Nick Easter, 16 Aston Croall, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Will Collier, 19 Tomas Vallejos, 20 Tom Guest, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 23 Ross Chisholm
Wasps: 15. Jack Wallace, 14. Christian Wade, 13. Elliot Daly (Prydie 51 mins), 12. Ryan Davis (Mayor 12 mins), 11. Tom Varndell, 10. Nick Robinson, 9. Charlie Davies, 1. Tim Payne (Taulafo 59 mins and 70 mins), 2. Tom Lindsay (Korshunov 51 mins), 3. Ben Broster (McIntire 59 mins), 4. James Cannon (Filipo 51 mins), 5. Richard Birkett ( c), 6. Joe Launchbury, 7. Jonathan Poff (Vunipola 51 mins), 8. Sam Jones, 16. Vladislav Korshunov, 17. Zac Taulafo (Payne blood rep 68 mins), 18. Simon McIntyre, 19. Ross Filipo, 20. Billy Vunipola (yellow card 63 mins), 21. Lee Robsinson, 22. Chris Mayor, 23. Tom Prydie

Dai Young has managed to achieve a lot of brickbats and disappointments in his time as a professional coach. He managed Cardiff to victories in the anglo-welsh cup and the challenge cup amongst seasons of mediocrity since 2003.

He shifted to Wasps, a proud successful club, who needed fresh thinking and a new direction. Only problem is that Young's direction has been to the bottom of the table and possible relegation, notwithstanding the finances of the club.

To be fair to Young, losing your entire back row to injury would affect most clubs

Not just a back row Jersey. Wasps have effectively had a full team out injured for the majority of this season